Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to removal of corona products in the image forming apparatus.
Related Art
Image forming processes performed in an image forming apparatus employing the electrophotographic method include, for example, (1) charging a surface of the photoconductor by a charging member such as a charger or a charging roller; (2) forming a predetermined electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor with an LD or LED, and discharging the surface of the photoconductor; (3) developing the latent image on the discharged portion on the photoconductor with toner by a developing device to render the latent image visible; (4) transfer the written toner image on a transfer member such as an intermediate transfer belt or a sheet of paper; and (5) fixing the toner image onto the sheet of paper by a fixing device.
In the above transfer process (4), residual toner remaining on the photoconductor not transferred from the photoconductor to the transfer member is collected and removed by a cleaner, so that the residual toner does not adversely affect subsequent image processes.